MSNBC just recently published an article about the Florida revival. I encourage you to read the article here. One of the reasons I decided to write this blog was because of the following paragraph from the MSNBC article:
Not everyone is comfortable with this expression of Christianity, including some Protestant theologians. R. Douglas Geivett, a professor at the conservative, evangelical Talbot School of Theology, is deeply skeptical of the "Florida outpouring" and does not believe Bentley’s claims of supernatural healing are consistent with Christian doctrine
"I don’t think it fits neatly into any branch of Christianity," said Geivett. "Mr. Bentley’s worldview appears to be a mixture of New Age notions, an obsession with the paranormal, and an untutored grasp of Christian theology."
Most of us reading this blog know Doug Geivett, if not personally, then by close association. He's a good guy, and we have been learning from him for years. Knowing his Biblical scholarship, it is surprising to me that he believes that supernatural healing is not consistent with Christian doctrine. All it takes is a cursory look the New Testament to see that healing is a common thread in the ministries of the main leaders in the early church, and of course Jesus. And we've all heard stories of missionaries who had miraculous encounters with Jesus, or angels, and we probably know someone here in America who has been healed by the Lord. So why is it so hard to stomach something like the Florida revival?
One thing I've learned in my experience with the Lord is that there is always an offense that comes with the moves of the Holy Spirit. To receive what the Lord is doing, there is a requirement of humility and faith.
For example: The Virgin Birth. Who in their right mind would believe that a virgin would bear a child? That doctrine right there keeps people out of the church who cannot make that leap of faith. How about Jesus coming as a Servant, not a Conquering King? The NT shows the havoc that wreaked in the Jewish religious community. And of course, Jesus, a man, claiming to be one in the same as God. That one got him crucified. How about the doctrine of Grace? If you can't accept that you don't have what it takes to get to heaven on your own merit, you've missed the whole point. But it takes humility to get over that one.
In every instance of life change in the Bible, there is a requirement of humility and faith: Naaman dipping seven times in the Jordan to be healed of leprosy; the widow giving Elijah the last of her oil and flour for food, which the Lord multiplied for them and then resurrected her son who died; the entire story of Jonah; Daniel; Mary and Joseph; Nicodemus; The Roman Centurion; The ten lepers; and on and on through the Resurrection and Pentecost, and all the stories of the early church. Even the book of Revelation is a vision, which John had to receive by faith. It's the only pattern we have for our Christian walk.
Then of course there are the various revivals throughout history. There are always those who can embrace the thing God is doing, and there are always those who can't. Revivals necessarily include an emotional response, because people are being confronted with the deep love that Jesus has for them. If you haven't experienced what it feels like to know that Jesus loves you beyond measure, just like you are today, because He made you to be who you are, and knows everything in your heart and mind and still loves you, even in your sin and inadequacy, then ask him to show you what it feels like. It is a feeling like no other. I can't describe it adequately, except to say that it's like having a ball of peace down inside your chest, where anxiety used to be. It's overwhelming, and all you can do is worship.
We have a new song that we sing at our church all about how Jesus loves us. You can hear it here. Here are the words:
He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how gread Your affections are for me
And oh, how He loves us so, oh how He loves us.
We are His portions and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart turns violenly inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way
He loves us, oh how He loves us
Last week I was sitting up with the kids to the left side of the stage, and while we were singing it, I looked over the audience and saw people all over crying. It was because they were feeling the love that Jesus has for them, and being ministered to in a deep place in their spirit.
When I watch what is happening in Florida, it looks crazy. People are crying, and falling down, and shaking, and singing, and laughing. There are non-stop stories of healings and even resurrections from the dead. But having experienced what it feels like to be overwhelmingly loved by Jesus, I can understand, at least a little, what's going on there. Healing is always a result of Jesus' love. It is never a reward to us because we are good enough, or did something right. His love carries the offense that all true love does. It isn't based on my ability to earn it. I'm not loved because I deserve it. I'm loved because He just wants to love me.
You may hear more in the future about the Florida revival. It's been going on for over about two months now. I hope that as you evaluate it, you will remember the humility and faith that it takes to receive any move of God, and not just write it off because it looks so extraordinary.
9 comments:
Heidi, I stumbled across your blog through Gretchen's site and I was really interested to hear what you thought about the revival. It's a fascinating thing that is going on and my church has been talking a lot about it lately. The pastors at our church have been completely floored at the revival and have been participating in it on some levels. The other interesting thing is that southern Oregon and Medford, Oregon (where we live) has been mentioned several times from this ministry as a place of revival. It's exciting because I see that God has been really moving in our church and I have definitely felt an outpouring of the Holy Spirit recently.
What saddens me about Geivett's thoughts is that it doesn't lie consistent with his old book, "In Defense of Miracles", where he defends the reality and historicity of miracles to a skeptical mindset.
I certainly hope this is a genuine moving of the HS. Our nation and the world certainly need it! I can't shake the thought that the early church had the benefit of supernatural workings to assist them in proclaiming Christ. And yet Christ did say "blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe". Let us be open to any and all things the Spirit of Christ is doing in our day. And at the same time to test the spirits for there are counterfeits. Let us see the fruit of this revival. And be open and hungry for the Holy Spirits moving in our lives. Dad
Beautiful song. God isn't in a box and I do believe that healing and the move of the HS can, will and does happen as scripture says.
Jodi, I'm so glad your church is aware and part of this. Seeing the Holy Spirit active is very exciting!
Dad, I agree that the fruit will show this revival for what it is. And so far what I'm seeing is people being blessed all over, and God getting the glory. I was laughing about the MSNBC article because they made it sound like Todd Bently had the power to heal. But I know that Todd and everyone else involved knows that it is God who heals. He gets the glory.
The verse you are talking about which says "...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" is John 20:29, where Thomas confronts Jesus and needs to see his hands and side to prove that He is really resurrected. The entire verse is "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed." I think that Jesus is talking about the proof of the resurrection, because after he asended, everyone who became Christians had to believe that he rose from the dead without seeing his actual body. I don't think that Jesus is talking about believing without seeing signs of the Holy Spirit active in our Christian lives. Jesus says something else right before he ascended that I think applies more to our daily Christian lives, once we've believed that He did in fact rise from the dead. It is Mark 16:15-18..."He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place thir hands on sick people, and they will get well.'"
Just like the early church, supernatural workings today are for the same purpose: to bring people into the Kingdom of God.
This is very interesting!
I actually just read a good article on revival written by Peter John Marshall, the son of Peter and Catherine Marshall, whose books and work I have really resonated with over the years. He comes from a charismatic viewpoint himself and he had some good things to say about discerning true revival in this commentary a couple of weeks ago:
http://www.petermarshallministries.com/commentary.cfm?commentary=162
I thought it was balanced and had some good food for thought...
I just read that article by Peter J Marshall, and it was very good. I agree with him that true revival leads to repentance from sin, and a reception of forgiveness from Jesus. As I was reading the article, I was thinking about the verse that says...God's kindness leads you toward repentance. It's Romans 2:4b. I think that experiencing the Lord's forgiveness is the same as experiencing his love, because to truly feel the depth of his love we have to be aware of the depth of our own sinfulness. It kind of bounces off if we don't see our sin.
The other factor that I've been thinking about for the last few days is that Todd Bently is totally an evangelist. He has been all over the world preaching and healing for a number of years, and his heart is for people to turn to Christ. We had a friend who went to his ministry for a big training time, and she ended up doing a cross country trip with a friend doing street evangelism in all these cities. So I know that ultimately the point of anything that God has Todd Bently doing is evangelism. We'll see how it all plays out....
I hear you got a dog! Can you post some pictures?
Aunt G
Aunt Gretchen, you can now read Dolce's blog, and see photos on Will's blog. Just click the links from here. :-)
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